Abstract
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form mutualistic symbiotic relationships with approximately 80% of terrestrial plant species, while producing the glycoprotein glomalin as a structural support molecule along their mycelial network. Glomalin confers two benefits for soils: (1) acting as a carbon and nitrogen storage molecule; (2) the binding of soil microaggregates (<250 µm) to form larger, more stable structures. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that a correlation between glomalin and soil aggregation exists and that this is influenced by the method of seedbed preparation. The soils from two crops of winter wheat in Hertfordshire, UK, practising either conventional (20 cm soil inversion) or zero tillage exclusively, were sampled in a 50 m grid arrangement over a 12 month period. Glomalin and water stable aggregates (WSA) were quantified for each soil sample and found to be significantly greater in zero tillage soils compared to those of conventional tillage. A stronger correlation between WSA and glomalin was observed in zero tillage (Pearson’s coeffect 0.85) throughout the cropping year compared to conventional tillage (Pearson’s coeffect 0.07). The present study was able to conclude that zero tillage systems are beneficial for AM fungi, the enhancement of soil glomalin and soil erosion mitigation.
Highlights
A statistically significant difference exists between water stable aggregates (WSA) and total glomalin for conventional tillage (CT)- and zero tillage (ZT)-treated soils during sampling periods 5 months post seedbed preparation
The total glomalin measured on ZT soils relative to CT was greater (p = 0.05), a mean of 56.01 g/0.1 m3 and 42.94 g/0.1 m3, respectively
The comparisons of the ZT and CT treatments refer to sampling points for sandy loam soil only
Summary
Through the established plant-fungal symbiosis relationship, AM fungi and glomalin can play a crucial role in the sequestration of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with photosynthetic carbohydrates being provided by the host plant via the intracellular fungal exchange organ, arbuscules [4,5,6,7]. Such photosynthetic carbons, provided to AM fungi, account for 20% of the total photosynthate [8]. When quantifying glomalin, glomalin related soil proteins (GRSP) are reported due to the undefined structure of glomalin [6]
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